Through billions in tax breaks and subsidies, taxpayers in Louisiana, Texas, and other states have supported the construction or expansion of dozens of facilities manufacturing plastics in the United States since 2012. However, many of these plants have also repeatedly exceeded legal limits on the air pollution they release into surrounding communities, disproportionately affecting people of color. That’s according to an Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) report published on Thursday.
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For instance, in 2015, then-Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal welcomed Indorama Ventures — one of the world’s biggest producers of single-use plastic — to the state with a $1.5 million grant to renovate a dormant petrochemical plant in Westlake, across the Calcasieu River from Lake Charles. Indorama also received an industrial tax exemption worth $73 million, absolving the Thai-based corporation from paying property taxes for 10 years that would have gone to local schools, fire departments, and the sheriff’s office.
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The EIP report makes recommendations to address the size of the tax subsidies, including stricter air pollution limits that are protective of the health of nearby communities and rejecting or revoking tax exemptions for companies that violate their environmental permits. But in Louisiana, the rules regarding which projects quality for the Industrial Tax Exemption Program just got a bit laxer. Last month, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order doing away with a requirement that projects that receive the tax exemption create or retain jobs.
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“Nobody should be getting a free ride here,” Hiatt said. “We have a bus driver shortage. We have a certified teacher shortage. All of this money that’s being handed out to corporations from elsewhere could be benefiting this community reeling from hurricanes three years ago.”